History lesson, who is Zemgallians Namejs and in what history book is he in?

Question

He is Latvian, there is a national ring that is used as a symbol for Latvain boys. The period of time is in the begining of the 13th century.

Answer 1

Ignore the xenophobe above.

Here is something about the ring itself:
http://www.ltn.lv/~krz/latvia/namejs.html

I can't find much on Namejs - he appears in an old Latvian saga but seems also to have been a real person,a leader of Zemgale during the invasion of the German crusaders at the beginning of the 13th century. Namejs was forced to retreat to Lithuania, but before leaving he gave his ring to his son. The Germans tried to find the son and convert him to Christianity; to protect Namejs and his son, all Zemigallian men and boys wore similar rings. There is another story that Namejs buried his ring under an oak tree in Zemgale to signal his return:
http://smartsite.kit.nl/net/kit_publicaties_output/showfile.aspx?a=tblFiles&b=FileID&c=FileName&d=TheFile&e=729
http://www.riga-airport.com/media/file/0205_gateway_riga.pdf
http://www.latviansonline.com/forums/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2229&mesg_id=2229&page=

Unfortunately, I can't find an actual history book on Namejs. You would probably have to contact a Latvian Institute, or Embassy, for further guidance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semigallians

Answer 2

He was a 13Th cent. warrior in Germany, He gave his son a gold ring as he left the area so he would know him on his return.
"The 125th anniversary book of Latvian History" and several other German books. He was a great man.

Answer 3

One of the last warriors against the invasion, of the german crusardes into Latvia at the beginning of the 13 century. Before leaving Namejs gave his ring to his son, in order to recognize him upon his return. The crusardes found out and tried to find his family.The Latvains in order to protect them started to wear similar rings.

Answer 4

who cares?